Çandarlı Castle () is a fortification in the coastal

Çandarlı Çandarlı is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Dikili, İzmir Province, Turkey. Its population is 8,021 (2022). Before the 2013 Turkish local government reorganisation, 2013 reorganisation, it was a town (''belde''). It is a we ...

neighborhood of Dikili district in

İzmir Province İzmir Province () is a province and metropolitan municipality of Turkey in western Anatolia, situated along the Aegean coast. Its capital is the city of İzmir, which is in itself composed of the province's central 11 districts out of 30 in to ...

History

The castle was built in the 6th century BC to protect the ancient settlement Pitane. The city was the leading port during the

Kingdom of Pergamon The Kingdom of Pergamon, Pergamene Kingdom, or Attalid kingdom was a Greek state during the Hellenistic period that ruled much of the Western part of Asia Minor from its capital city of Pergamon. It was ruled by the Attalid dynasty (; ). The k ...

(282–129 BC). Later, it became an important port city during the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

Seljuk Seljuk (, ''Selcuk'') or Saljuq (, ''Saljūq'') may refer to: * Seljuk Empire (1051–1153), a medieval empire in the Middle East and central Asia * Seljuk dynasty (c. 950–1307), the ruling dynasty of the Seljuk Empire and subsequent polities * S ...

and Ottoman ages It gained its current appearance in the 14th century when the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( ; ; ) was a medieval and early modern Maritime republics, maritime republic from the years 1099 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italy, Italian coast. During the Late Middle Ages, it was a major commercial power in ...

(c. 1100–1805) captured

Phocaea Phocaea or Phokaia (Ancient Greek language, Ancient Greek: Φώκαια, ''Phókaia''; modern-day Foça in Turkey) was an ancient Ionian Ancient Greece, Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia. Colonies in antiquity, Greek colonists from Phoc ...

(today

Foça Foça is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of İzmir Province, Turkey. Its area is 251 km2, and its population is 34,946 (2022). The town of Foça is situated at about northwest of İzmir's city center on the Aegean Sea, Aege ...

). The ruined castle was rebuilt in the 15th century by order of

Grand Vizier Grand vizier (; ; ) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. It was first held by officials in the later Abbasid Caliphate. It was then held in the Ottoman Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Soko ...

Çandarlı Halil Pasha after the region was conquered during the reign of

Ottoman sultan The sultans of the Ottoman Empire (), who were all members of the Ottoman dynasty (House of Osman), ruled over the Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental empire from its perceived inception in 1299 to Dissolution of the Ottoman Em ...

Murad II Murad II (, ; June 1404 – 3 February 1451) was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1421 to 1444 and from 1446 to 1451. Early life Murad was born in June 1404 to Mehmed I, while the identity of his mother is disputed according to v ...

(). The last restoration work started in 2009, and completed in 2014. It is registered as immovable cultural property that needs to be protected within the protected historical area. In 2013, it was included in the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Tentative List under the name "Castles and Walled Settlements on the Genoese Trade Route from the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

to the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

Overview

Overlooking the nearby peninsula, the castle is situated on rock ground, which is sloping in the east-west direction, close to the peninsula's land connection. Stretching over area, it features five towers, walls with battlements and a gate with inscription over it featuring a faint text of Qur'an verses from the

Al-Fath Al-Fath (, ; "The Victory") is the 48th chapter (surah) of the Qur'an with 29 verses ( ayat). The surah was revealed in Medina in the sixth year of the Hijrah, on the occasion of the Treaty of Hudaybiya between the Muslim city-state of Madina ...

Surah A ''surah'' (; ; ) is an Arabic word meaning 'chapter' in the Quran. There are 114 ''suwar'' in the Quran, each divided into ayah, verses (). The ''suwar'' are of unequal length; the shortest ''surah'' (al-Kawthar) has only three verses, while ...

(Conquest chapter). Excavations inside the courtyard revealed wall remains, floors at different levels and a cistern from the

Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion () was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' continued to be used as a n ...

(667 BC–330 AD) era. After long-lasting restorations, the castle was opened to the public in March 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Candarli Castle Castles in Turkey Tourist attractions in İzmir Dikili District